Prescott’s Gives ‘Touchmark’ Plan Final OK

A senior-housing project that won initial city approval in 2014 despite strong opposition from neighbors could be under the first phase of construction within a month.

At their Tuesday, April 28, meeting, Prescott City Council members approved the final plat for the “Touchmark at the Ranch” project, which is planned on 340 N. Lee Blvd., east of the Highway 69 Wal-Mart.

Touchmark’s Senior Vice President of Development and Construction, Richard Wessell, said after the meeting that the final plat approval sets the stage for initial construction work on grading, underground utilities, landscaping, and streets.

Although the company is still awaiting the necessary permits from the city, Wessell was hopeful that the infrastructure work would begin within the next 30 days.

Construction on the project’s single-family homes could then be under way by fall 2015, he said, with the start of Touchmark’s main building slated for the first part of 2016. The entire project could be complete by about summer 2017, Wessell said.

This week’s final-plat OK comes about 10 months after the city’s controversial approval of a special use permit that allowed Touchmark to exceed the city’s 50-foot building-height limit with its 70-foot main building, as well as a development-agreement provision that waived about $500,000 of the project’s development and building fees.

In all, Touchmark’s plans include 379 units, consisting of a combination of single-family, four-plex, independent-living, assisted-living, and memory-care senior housing units on the 44-acre parcel.

Despite the multiple meetings and heated discussion that the project generated this past year, Tuesday’s final plan approval occurred with little discussion.